Once the summer comes to an end at New Britain Stadium and all of the players who spent each and every day go back home for a couple weeks before having to report to their colleges for the start of the fall semester, you would think that it would be a slow transition with baseball season not starting up again until February or March.
In reality, it’s actually quite the opposite. Once all of the players get back to their campuses in the fall, the grind doesn’t stop. Hard work and preparation is needed no matter what level of baseball you’re at, and the fall is perhaps the most crucial time for that.
Colin Crowley spent the summer manning the hot corner for the Bees, leading the team in numerous offensive categories. His 51 games played led the team and was near the top of the Futures League as a whole. Playing that much baseball after a long spring season at Winthrop, you’d think the transition back to school would be a little more relaxed, but it was quite the opposite.
“My daily routine in the fall typically goes weights in the morning, then I go to class,” Crowley said. “After that I normally eat lunch, hit in the cages, then stretch/prepare for practice. Once that ends, the rest of my day is designated to studying and relaxing/recovering to do it all again the next day.”
Camden Righi is in a bit of a different situation. An incoming freshman at UConn, Righi joined the Bees in the middle of June after his high school season ended at Wethersfield High School and played the rest of the summer out in New Britain. At one of the premier programs in the Northeast, the grind certainly doesn’t stop in September and October.
“The fall is all about consistency and commitment,” Righi said. “I wake up and head to class, then it’s straight to the field for lifting, practice, and recovery. After that I get some study hours in, sleep, and do it all again the next day. It’s a busy schedule, but it’s exactly what I love to do. I love being around the game every day and getting better.”
It isn’t just at the Division I level either. The preparation in the fall months stems all the way down to Division III as well. Evan Mello, who evolved into one of the best closers in the Futures League over the summer, is going through the same processes as Crowley and Righi, just at Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
“I stay in a routine because I feel like being consistent with everything I do can help me become more organized and help me get what I need to done, as well as instill discipline in me to continue to grow as a person,” Mello said. “My everyday routine with baseball is I start with breakfast every morning, then two classes everyday, lunch/study, head to practice, gym, dinner, either watch nfl game or mlb playoffs to unwind the day & then repeat.”
It isn’t easy to go through such a daunting schedule on a daily basis, but there’s one thing that all these players agree on: spending the summer in New Britain helped shape their routines to be the best they can be.
“Playing games every day over the summer prepared me mentally and physically for the grind that is college baseball,” Crowley said. “We have limited free time for most of the fall, so playing every day can help me learn time management and mentally prepare me for playing every day in the fall.
“Being able to bounce back everyday and compete at a high level even when you are tired is very important,” Righi added. “Fall is a lot of work, and being able to keep showing up with everything you got everyday is a hard thing to do. Summer with the Bees definitely helped me prepare for that.
“Having this experience of playing in New Britain this summer is going to set me up for success in not just baseball but life due to the connections I’ve made and the trust I’ve gained in myself by being able to play the game I love each day,” Mello said.”
“The most important thing you learn from playing everyday is finding your routines that you can be consistent in,” Bryant shortstop Carlos Irizarry said. “Also, making sure to take care of your body and value your sleep and nutrition really helps you be ready to play everyday. These are some things that I have taken with me to school this year.”
All of this goes to show that the hard work and preparation that happens in the Hardware City isn’t just “to get reps” or for fun, it helps mold young players to have great success in the future at the college level.